Close England 204 and 103 for 8 (Mayers 5-9) lead West Indies 297 (da Silva 100*) by 10 runs
A day that had dawned with the contest seemingly in the balance was ripped emphatically in West Indies’ favour in an extraordinary morning session, as Da Silva and his No.11 sidekick Jayden Seales continued the remarkable trend of tail-end runs with a tenth-wicket stand of 52. By the time they were parted on the stroke of lunch, a slender lead of 28 had swelled to 93, and given that England had shipped eight wickets in reaching that mark in the first innings, it was clear that the afternoon was sure to be fraught with drama.
Even allowing for England’s current bottom-feeding standards, however, few could have imagined the stunning ineptitude of what would follow. By the close, Jack Leach was once again at the helm, gritting his teeth for his favourite score of 1 not out, and England’s first-innings top-scorer Saqib Mahmood was still in the hutch. But England had left their lower-order a resuscitation job the likes of which has scarcely been achieved since Headingley 1981, after a two-tiered meltdown in the day’s final two sessions.
Mayers, West Indies’ unassuming medium-pacer, was in the thick of the action in both phases. As if his first-day intervention of 5-5-0-2 had not been enough of a bonus from a man nominally recalled to reinforce the batting, he capped his comeback performance with the bafflingly brilliant figures of 5 for 9 in 13 overs, as England thumbed through their portfolio of clichéed collapses to serve up quite possibly their worst batting display of an already epoch-ally awful winter.
Who, by the end of it all, could be said to have been the day’s biggest sucker? Zak Crawley, for setting the rot in motion by edging yet another drive for yet another single-figured score? Joe Root, for fencing outside his eyeline yet again, in the manner with which Australia had suckered him time and again in the Ashes? Dan Lawrence, for a gullible leave-alone? Jonny Bairstow for giving away a well-set recovery via one of the most transparent sledges ever picked up by the stump-mic? Or Ben Foakes, for a headless-chicken run-out that reaffirmed the direction in which England’s fortunes were heading?
Frankly, the accolade belonged to an amalgam of the entire team, for the bowlers who have been left to scrape together a nominal target for West Indies were every bit as culpable in the events of a dark day for English cricket.
From the outset of the third day – with West Indies precariously placed on 232 for 8, and with the challenge of batting last on an up-and-down deck – it was clear that England had learned nothing from either their success in the middle of West Indies’ collapse to 128 for 7 on the second afternoon, or from their subsequent failure to dock the tail before nightfall.
Though Mahmood made the day’s first breakthrough after 20 minutes when he dragged his length back to have Kemar Roach caught down the leg side without adding to his overnight 25, England would not part the final pair for a full two hours of an extended session. With a wearying lack of game-smarts, the seamers continued to target a wide channel outside off, inviting a loss of patience that Da Silva in particular was not about to grant them, as the lead grew slowly but inexorably all morning long.
Da Silva did have some early moments of discomfort though. On 65, he was given out lbw as Chris Woakes briefly hit a fuller, straighter length, but the decision was over-ruled due to an inside-edge, and Da Silva hadn’t added to his total when, one over later, Woakes pinned him on the bottom hand with a lifter, a blow that necessitated a couple of visits from the physio, and later caused him to pass over the wicketkeeping duties to Shamarh Brooks.
England’s frustrations were soon off the scale, seeing as they should have removed Seales only moment after he came to the crease. He hadn’t yet got off the mark when Mahmood pinned him in front of off stump, but England had burned all their lifelines in their second-evening desperation. Sure enough, replays showed that the decision would have been overturned, and to make matters worse, the ball deflected past the diving Foakes for four leg-byes.
But much as had been the case with England’s own tenth-wicket stand on the first day, the unfussy endurance merely exacerbated the frustrations of the bowling team. With drinks approaching, England were forced to turn once more to the toiling Ben Stokes, his knees creaking after his unexpectedly full-on workload in this series, but even his best efforts couldn’t go to hand, as Seales jabbed a lifter from round the wicket through a gap in the cordon and away for four.
England’s stint in the field had stretched past 100 overs when Da Silva decided it was time to take on the spin of Leach, with an ambitious slap back over the bowler’s head for a one-bounce four, just inside the rope. For the most part, however, he was content to bide his time, and marshal the strike, reasonably safe in the knowledge that only an error in judgement was likely to dislodge either man against a notably uninspired attack.
As the session extended, West Indies began to trust themselves to pick up the tempo and stretch their lead – notably when Seales shelved his previous reticence to club the first six of his career, off Leach and over long-on. And with lunch already delayed by the endurance of their partnership, Da Silva finally brought up his landmark moment in thrilling style, with back-to-back boundaries off Craig Overton – the latter a fierce slap off the back foot through long-on as he gave himself room to leg and immediately roared in triumph as he raised both fists to the heavens.
One ball later, Da Silva’s innings seemed to have been ended by a fine riposte from Overton, as the ball leapt off the deck and through to the keeper via an apparent inside-edge. But in farcical scenes that rather summed up England’s morning, Da Silva was already leaving the field to handshakes, only to be called back on after his speculative use of the review showed that he hadn’t touched the ball and the only deflection had come off his thigh. Root’s offspin ended the agony moments later, as Seales popped up a return catch to end their innings on 297, but the die was already cast for England’s ignominious day.
Sure enough, the collapse when it came was farcically familiar. Crawley, who is increasingly worthy of the old Shane Warne jibe about playing the same innings 36 times, duly threw his hands into the corridor of uncertainty to end his 37th, via a fat deflection to Jason Holder at slip. And England were 14 for 1, and the rot was setting in.
Into the attack, with almost presumptuous haste, came Mayers, for only the ninth over of the innings. And lo and behold, within three balls, he’d landed his big fish for the second time in the match – and to a flaw that, in its own way, is every bit as debilitating as Crawley’s. During the Ashes, Root’s urge to open the face and pick off runs through third man had frequently been his undoing, and so it proved again, as Mayers’ lack of pace turned a fence outside the eyeline into a wobbly slash to John Campbell at slip.
And one over later, Mayers struck with his third ball once more, as Lawrence – willing himself to ride out the new-ball threat – shouldered arms fatefully as the ball tailed back in to crash into off stump, and send him on his way for the fifth duck of his career, and the 11th of England’s calendar year.
At 27 for 3, it seemed ghoulish to suggest that England’s day could get any worse, but sure enough they obliged. In making 31 out of England’s first-day 67 for 7, Alex Lees had been the relative mainstay during their first-innings catastrophe. But on 9, he too couldn’t resist having a dart outside his eyeline as Mayers served up some width, but Bonner at third slip could only get his wrist on a low edge to his left. No matter, Mayers simply turned on his heel, pounded that back-of-a-length once more, and Stokes, back in his sights after a jogged single, couldn’t decide whether to play or leave. Brooks, who had taken over the keeping duties at the start of that same over, swallowed the deflection for his first feel of ball in glove, and at 39 for 4, England were in a tailspin.
For a fleeting passage of play in the mid-afternoon, England appeared to have got the measure of the match requirements. Lees knuckled down with his singular lack of flamboyance, while Bairstow bristled with that plausibly classy demeanour that he tends to bring to the toughest of match situations. Given everything the teams had already learnt about the life-span of the Dukes ball on this peculiar surface, there was reason to believe that their fifth-wicket stand of 41 could be the sign of a corner turned.
But then, after lining up Bairstow with a length line of attack from over the wicket, Alzarri Joseph switched to round the wicket, just as Da Silva was heard chirping over the stump-mic: “You’re batting slow now, Jonny, like me!” Bairstow’s response was a dismal thrash across the new line as Joseph banged it in short, and Da Silva whooped with glee for the second time in the day as England’s most dangerous remaining batter was prised out.
After that, the panic within England’s ranks was palpable. Before the over was done, Foakes took on Mayers’ bullet arm at backward square with a stuttering second run, and was short by a yard as Da Silva whipped off the bails. And five overs later, Lees – on 31, just as in the first innings – toppled off his insubstantial plinth as Mayers hit a good length from round the wicket and found a hint of uneven bounce to splatter his off and middle stumps.
At 97 for 7, England did at least have a lead by that stage. But Mayers was in no mood to let them off the leash. Six more balls was all he needed to seal his maiden Test five-for, as Overton fenced incompetently in the channel outside off, and Holder’s juggling catch sent West Indies’ joy into overdrive. This game, this series, is already toast. And for the tenth series in the Caribbean out of 11 since 1968, England are about to leave the islands empty-handed.
* England haven’t technically lost to India yet, but on this evidence it’s only a matter of time
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket